Belt mounting for magnetic rail conveyers



June 17, 1952 D. BucclcoNE BELT MOUNTING FOR MAGNETIC RAIL. CONVEYERS 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed May 15, 1951 lnventar:

942/0 EUCC/CO/VE, nay 4 (CL fi/S fiflomey June 17, 1952 D. BUCCICONE BELT MOUNTING FOR MAGNETIC RAIL CONVEYERS 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 Filed May 15, 1951 U E F j E F Patented June 17, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT DFFICE BELT MOUNTING FOR MAGNETIC RAIL OONVEYERS 3 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved belt mounting for magnetic rail conveyors, such as are shown in my earlier Patent No. 2,527,911, which issued October 31, 1950, and in my application Serial No. 220,937, filed April 13, 1951.

My earlier patent and application both show conveyors which comprise a pair of spaced apart side plates, magnets mounted therebetween and having downwardly facing poles, sheaves mounted at the ends of the side plates, and endless belts extending around the sheaves and magnets. The principal use for such conveyors is in piling metal sheets emerging from a processing line. The magnets attract the sheets to the underside of the conveyor and the belts carry such sheets along until they reach a pile stop situated near the exit end of the conveyor. The belts ride in longitudinal grooves in the underface of a bottom member and have frictional contact with wear plates mounted in these grooves. Such conveyors are satisfactory for handling light gauge sheets, but I have found heavier articles are attracted by the magnets with enough force to create undue frictional resistance between the belts and their wear plates.

Accordingly an object of the present invention is to provide in such conveyors an improved belt mounting which reduces frictional resistance opposing movement of the belts.

A further object of the invention is to provide an adjustable roller mounting for the belts in such conveyors, the rollers being arranged not to interfere with the other parts of the conveyor.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, I have provided improved details of structure, a single form of which is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of magnetic rail conveyor embodying features of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the conveyor;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal ertical sectional view taken substantially on line TIL-III of Figure 2; and

Figures 4 and 5 are cross sectional views taken substantially on lines IVIV and V-V respectively of Figure 3.

Figure 1 shows a magnetic rail conveyor which comprises a pair of non-magnetic side plates and [2, a housing [3 fixed to the right end of said plates and carrying a power driven sheave I4, and a housing I adjustably mounted on the left end and carrying an idler sheave It. A unitary non-magnetic bottom member I! is fastened between the side plates, as by bolts [8, and thus maintains the side plates in spaced apart rela tion. The rails are illustrated as supported on cross beams l9 and 20, which in turn are supported on stands 2| and 22. Although I have shown only one conveyor rail, it is apparent several could be supported side by side on the same cross beams, the number depending on the width of the articles to be handled.

The bottom member I! has a series of down wardly tapered apertures 23 along its center line and cut-outs 24 along each side edge (Figure 5). Electromagnets, which include housings cores 26, and windings 27, are supported on the bottom member. Each of the cores has an integral pole piece 28 which tapers downwardly and is received in one of the apertures 23. The lower extremities of the housings are received in cut-outs 24.

The underface of the bottom member contains a pair of longitudinal grooves 29 and 39 within which ride a pair of endless belts 3| and 32. Said belts extend around sheaves l4 and I3. Preferably side plates IB and I2 carry upstanding brackets 33 and 34 which in turn carry vertically adjustable rollers 35 and 36 over which belts 3i and 32 ride and which enable the conveyor to be adjusted to accommodate belts of diiferent lengths (Figure 1). Preferably the mounting of housing l5 includes a spring for tensioning the belts. A feeding conveyor 3'! introduces sheets S to the underside of belts 3| and 32 at the left. The magnets hold such sheets to the belts, which carry them toward the right and drop them in a pile against a suitable pile stop, not shown.

The construction thus far described and the operation are similar to what is shown and claimed in my aforesaid application, Serial No. 220,937. However, it is apparent this construction could be varied without departing from the present invention.

In accordance with the present invention, the magnetic rail comprises a series of yokes 38 of inverted U-shape, shown in detail in Figures 2, 3 and 4. Preferably one of these yokes is situated between each successive pair of magnets. The lower ends of each yoke carry a transverse axle 39 which carries rollers 40 and 4|, preferably on antifriction bearings. Axle 39 and rollers 43 and 4| preferably are of non-magnetic material. Said rollers project through openings in the bottom member ll. Belts 3| and 32 ride on these rollers.

The yokes and rollers are supported for vertical adjustment. The preferred support means includes cross bars 42, one for each yoke, connected across the top of the side plates id and 12. An upstanding bolt 43 is fixed to the top of each yoke and extends through a bushin .4 which is threadedly engaged with an aperture in the cross bar 42. Ihe end of bolt 43 above the bushing carries a nut 45. To adjust any set of rollers 45 and 4| vertically it is necessary only to loosen the nut 45 and turn the bushing 4- up or down and re-tighten the nut.

Since the belts ride against rollers, rather than the walls of the grooves or against a fixed wear plate, the frictional resistance opposing their movement is greatly reduced. The vertical adjustability in these rollers controls the spacing between the underfaces of the belts and the magnet poles and thus controls the force with which the magnets hold an article.

While I have shown and described only single embodiment of the invention, it is apparent that modifications may arise. Therefore, I do not Wish to be limited to the disclosure set forth but only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a magnetic rail conveyor which includes a pair of spaced apart side plates, magnets mounted therebetween and having down vardly facing poles, a bottom member between said s plates and having longitudinal grooves in its underface, sheaves mounted at the ends of said side plates, and endless belts surrounding said sheaves and ridin in said grooves, the combination with said bottom member of a plurality of sets of rollers, each set of which is mounted between a successive pair of magnets and on which said belts ride to reduce the frictional resistance opposing their movement.

2. In a magnetic rail conveyor which includes a pair of spaced apart side plates, magnets mounted therebetween and having downwardly facing poles, a bottom member between said side plates and having longitudinal grooves in its underface, sheaves mounted at the ends of said side plates, and endless belts surrounding said shaves and riding in said grooves, the combination with said side plates and said bottom member of a plurality of yokes each of which is mounted between a successive pair of magnets, a pair of rollers carried by each of said yokes and projecting through said bottom member into said grooves, and means fixing said yolzes to said side plates for vertical adjustment, said belts riding on said rollers to reduce the frictional resistance opposing their movement.

3. In a magnetic rail conveyor which includes a pair of spaced apart side plates, magnets mounted therebetween and having downwardly facing poles, a bottom member between said side plates and having longitudinal grooves in its underface, sheaves mounted at the ends of said side plates, and endless belts surrounding said sheaves and riding in said grooves, the combination with said side plates and said bottom member of a plurality of yokes of inverted U-shape, each of which is mounted between a successive pair of magnets, a transverse axle carried by each said yokes, a pair of rollers carried by each of cl axles and projecting through said bottom er mic said grooves, cross bars extending between said side plates, one of which is situated above each of said yokes, and means fixing said yokes to said cross bars for vertical adjustment, said belts riding on said rollers to reduce the frictional resistance opposing their movement.

DARIO' BUCCICONE.

No references cited. 

